The Dreamcast version of Shenmue II was never released in the United States, while the European version did not feature an English-language dub, instead using the Japanese audio with subtitles. However, the Xbox release, available in America and Europe, did feature an English language track.

The game covers chapters 3 to 5 of the Shenmue story; the first chapter is told in Shenmue while the second, Ryo's journey to China, has only been shown as part of a comic book which is available as an extra feature in the Xbox release of Shenmue II.